The Chicago International Film Festival closed the 58th edition of North America’s longest-running competitive festival on Sunday, October 23, and today announces the winners of the Audience Choice Awards in four categories: International Feature, English-Language Feature, Documentary, and Short Film. The Festival’s Audience Choice Awards are presented by Xfinity.

In 2022, the 58th Chicago International Film Festival showcased 94 feature films and 56 shorts, selected from more than 6,500 submissions, The films screened at venues across Chicago including the AMC River East 21, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, and at two Chicago Park District locations: Austin Town Hall in Austin and the Hamilton Park Cultural Center in Englewood.

The Audience Choice Award for English Language Feature is shared by Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY and Alex Heller’s THE YEAR BETWEEN, while the Audience Choice Award for Documentary is also a tie, going to both ART AND PEP by Mercedes Kane and NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN from Christopher Burke. 

MY SAILOR, MY LOVE (Finland, Ireland) directed by Klaus Härö received the Audience Award for International Feature, and Luchina Fisher’s TEAM DREAM was the audience favorite for Short Film.

“Audiences embraced this year’s programming lineup, as well as the return to the in-theater experience, and their enthusiasm was reflected in high ratings for the films at the Festival,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “This year’s Audience Awards were more competitive than ever, as we welcomed people back to full-house screenings of films from around the world as well as from right here in our own backyard.” 

On Friday October 21, the Festival announced the winners of this year’s jury competitions. 

The Gold Hugo in the International Competition went to Hlynur Pálmason’s GODLAND, while Lukas Dhont’s CLOSE took the Silver Hugo Jury Prize as well as the Gold Q-Hugo in the Festival’s OutLook Competition. Charlotte Le Bon’s FALCON LAKE won the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s PIAFFE took the Silver Hugo in the New Directors Competition. The Roger Ebert Award, given to a film in the New Directors Competition in recognition of a filmmaker with a fresh and uncompromising vision, went to two films: Michael Koch’s A PIECE OF SKY and Katrine Brocks’ THE GREAT SILENCE.

ALIS from Clare Wesikopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck won the Gold Hugo in the International Documentary Competition, with the Silver Hugo going to Sergei Loznitsa’s THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DESTRUCTION. The Chicago Award, presented to the director of an outstanding film in the Festival’s City & State program, went to Harriet Marin Jones for KING OF KINGS: CHASING EDWARD JONES.

The complete list of jury honorees is as follows: 

International Feature Film Competition

Gold Hugo

GODLAND Vanskabte Land (Denmark, Iceland, France, Sweden)

Dir. Hlynur Pálmason

Silver Hugo Jury Award 

CLOSE (Belgium, France, The Netherlands)

Dir. Lukas Dhont

Silver Hugo, Best Director

Maryam Touzani

THE BLUE CAFTAN (France, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark)

Silver Hugo, Best Performance

Vicky Krieps

CORSAGE (Austria, France, Germany)

Silver Hugo, Best Ensemble Cast Performance

Denis Ménochet, Marina Foïs, Luis Zahera, Diego Anido, and Marie Colomb

THE BEASTS As bestas (Spain, France)

Silver Hugo, Best Screenplay

Alice Diop, Amrita David, Zoé Galeron, and Marie N’Diaye

SAINT OMER (France)

Silver Hugo, Best Cinematography

Maria von Hausswolff

GODLAND Vanskabte Land (Denmark, Iceland, France, Sweden)

Silver Hugo, Best Production Design

Marcela Gómez (Production Designer) and Daniel Rincon (Art Director)

THE KINGS OF THE WORLD Los reyes del mundo (Colombia, Norway, Luxembourg, Mexico, 

France)

Award for Cinematic Bravery

NO BEARS (Iran)

Dir. Jafar Panahi

New Directors Competition

Gold Hugo

FALCON LAKE (Canada, France)

Dir. Charlotte Le Bon

Silver Hugo

PIAFFE (Germany)

Dir. Ann Oren

Roger Ebert Award ex aequo

THE GREAT SILENCE (Denmark)

Dir. Katrine Brocks

A PIECE OF SKY (Switzerland, Germany)

Dir. Michael Koch

International Documentary Competition

Gold Hugo

ALIS (Colombia, Romania, Chile)

Dirs. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck

Silver Hugo

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DESTRUCTION (Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands)

Dir. Sergei Loznitsa

Chicago Award

Chicago Award

KING OF KINGS: CHASING EDWARD JONES (U.S., France)

Dir. Harriet Marin Jones

Honorable Mention

MATRIARCH (U.S.)

Dir. Donald Conley

OutLook Competition 

Gold Q-Hugo

CLOSE (Belgium, France, The Netherlands)

Dir. Lukas Dhont

Silver Q-Hugo

PALOMA (Brazil, Portugal)

Dir. Marcelo Gomes

Special Mention

ALIS (Colombia, Romania, Chile)

Dirs. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck

Live Action Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo

THE HEADHUNTER’S DAUGHTER (The Philippines)

Dir. Don Jospehus Raphael Eblahan

Silver Hugo

LIVE (Poland)

Dir. Mara Tamkovich

Documentary Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo

NAZARBAZI (Iran)

Dir. Maryam Tafakory

Silver Hugo

REVOLVER (U.S.)

Dir. Crystal Z Campbell

Animated Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo

ICE MERCHANTS (Portugal)

Dir. João Gonzalez

Silver Hugo

MY YEAR OF DICKS (U.S.)

Dir. Sara Gunnarsdóttir

For more information, visit the Festival’s website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.